After jumping out to a 10-7 lead, Matt Ryan was sacked on back-to-back possessions on third down and forced Indy to put the ball away. They initially took advantage of some short fields and build a slim lead early, but the offensive line started to allow the Dallas front to get home late in the first half. Indianapolis did seem to give the Cowboys its best punch, but it just wasn't strong enough to make a lasting impact. Gallup worked the middle of the field and eventually connected with Prescott who was rolling out to the right for the score. Lamb motioned out left, which forced Stephon Gilmore - who was originally covering Gallup - to remain on the outside. A great example of that came on Michael Gallup's first touchdown on the day in the second quarter. Not only did he find the end zone and lead the team in receiving, but as Dallas continued to put him in motion, he freed up others to make impact plays as well. That was largely spearheaded by Tony Pollard - who got the start on Sunday night even with a healthy Ezekiel Elliott on the roster - as he totaled 91 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.ĬeeDee Lamb was also a difference-maker in the passing game. As a team, Dallas rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns. Naturally, the defense is going to be the main story coming out of this game, but the running game did have its moments as well. Those 33 points are tied for second-most points any team has scored in the fourth quarter of a game in NFL history. That resulted in a 33-0 fourth quarter run that allowed Dallas to cruise to its ninth win. Even when the defense wasn't scoring on their own, they were setting up the offense to cash in, which they did after each of the following three turnovers. The fourth quarter was a defensive avalanche that featured four consecutive turnovers, including a scoop and score by Malik Hooker. the offense gave them some cushion as they went on a 75-yard touchdown drive of their own, to extend the lead to nine but they didn't need it. After allowing a 15-play touchdown drive that traveled 90 yards and brought Indy within two points of knotting the score, Dan Quinn's defense flipped a switch. That was on full display in the fourth quarter where the Cowboys slammed the door completely shut on the Colts possibly pulling off the upset. Why the Cowboys wonĪs we continue to look at Dallas as a Super Bowl threat, the main reason is centered around their defense. On the other side, Matt Ryan was 21 of 37 passing for 233 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.įor a more detailed breakdown of how this game unfolded, check out our takeaways below. Tony Pollard and Michael Gallup both found the end end zone twice. At that point, the defense did the rest, forcing four straight turnovers on Indianapolis to put the game away.ĭak Prescott completed 20 of his 30 passes for 170 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. The Cowboys absorbed that punch and countered with a 75-yard touchdown drive by the offense. In the second half, Indianapolis again was first to get the scoring started thanks to a 15-yard touchdown catch by Alec Pierce, but unable to draw even with Dallas after a two-point attempt to Parris Campbell failed. were held to just a field goal on that possession and the veteran quarterback threw a pick on the following drive, which led to a five-play touchdown march by Dallas to go up by eight before the break.

The Cowboys were able to spark up a couple of touchdown drives to jump ahead, but the Colts did have an opportunity to go into the break with a surprising lead, particularly after Stephon Gilmore picked off Dak Prescott with just under three minutes to play in the second quarter. Indy gave Dallas a run for its money out of the gate, scoring 10 points on its first two possession to take an early lead. The Cowboys moved to 9-3 on the season after handling the Colts on Sunday night, 54-19.

Dallas cowboys game score breakdown